Quote:
Originally Posted by MysticCat
I could ask you the same thing -- I have no idea what you mean in your last sentence.
What I meant when I said "And many GLOs were were specifically founded with a non-sectarian focus, seeking to overcome divisions based on religion," was precisely that. Starting in the early 20th Century, a number of GLOs were founded on an explicitly non-sectarian basis, so that members of any religion (granted, at the time, that would mainly have meant Protestants, Catholics -- the two groups had little to do with each other then -- and Jews) could be members and could participate without either compromising their own religious values or feeling coerced into religious practices not their own.
And you may disagree if you wish, but the earliest Greek groups had a more philosophical basis as opposed to a religious basis. Your statement, to which I was responding, that all GLOs were founded with a religious background is, like most overgeneralizations, simply not true. Had you said many rather than all, there would be no disagreement.
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Great points, MysticCat. The only thing I'd add right now is that the founding of "explicitly non-sectarian" social GLOs began in the late 1800s, just a little before the "early 20th century." For example, say, Pi Lambda Phi. Admittedly, more were founded a few years later, in the time frame you mentioned.